Monday marks the six-month anniversary of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. This time has been filled with painful reminders of the deep divisions in our country and the constant dangers these barriers bring. Bright spots have been few.
Many are left wondering what they can do to prevent another Ferguson from happening in their town. The concern they feel is well founded; frankly, Ferguson has already happened in our town, and has been happening for some time now. The fear of another Ferguson is felt daily by black teenagers as they travel around Baltimore, and by the police officers who patrol our streets. That's a reality we must acknowledge before we can move forward.
Fortunately, I have seen reasons for hope, right here in Baltimore. As director of the Inner Harbor Project, I have the unique privilege of working with 25 remarkable teenagers who strive every day to eliminate divisions in our city. Their work began long before Ferguson and will continue when the media cycle has tired of the story. These young leaders are already finding success and improving relationships between teens and authorities in novel ways.
One reason you may not have heard of our work is that we focus on the Inner Harbor, a place that many Baltimoreans write off as a commercial, tourist destination. For teenagers, the Inner Harbor is the cosmopolitan center of the city, the place where they meet their peers to discuss entrepreneurial endeavors, work out interpersonal conflicts, interact with people from outside their neighborhoods and, most importantly, have fun. At the same time, the Inner Harbor also represents the aspects of our society that are inaccessible to them. Teenagers feel excluded from the Inner Harbor, not by individuals, but by a system comprised of security personnel, retailers and businesses.
To tackle the tensions at the Inner Harbor, these youth leaders began by conducting extensive focus groups and interviews with teens, retailers and security personnel. Trained in sociological research methods, the youth leaders analyzed the data and presented a set of recommendations for improving the Inner Harbor to the public.
Since then, they have spearheaded five programs derived from their recommendations:
•They have designed a training program for police and guides to highlight positive ways of interacting with youth;
•They mediate teen conflicts in person and over social media;
•They are developing a code of etiquette for visitors to the Inner Harbor to follow, giving authority figures enforceable guidelines;
•They are creating a discount card to incentivize good behavior and build goodwill with merchants;
•And they are promoting positivity among their peers as blue-shirted Hood2Harbor Peace Ambassadors.
These efforts are getting results. Through deep collaboration with the Baltimore Police Department, the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and many more stakeholders, the downtown and Inner Harbor areas experienced a decrease in juvenile arrests of 86 percent over the course of this past summer. What these youth leaders have done here is easily replicable in other cities and in other public spaces.
While Michael Brown's death has shed light on the disparities in this country, it has also prompted an important conversation about what can be done to change these divisions. Teenagers in Baltimore City are choosing to lead that discussion. And after working with these powerful young leaders, I know that there is hope. Almost nothing can disrupt a teenager's resolve except the feeling that his or her voice is not heard.
Celia Neustadt is executive director of the Inner Harbor Project. Her email is celia@innerharborproject.org.